tailgater wrote:A lot of towns in my area were all volunteer fire departments when I was a kid.
There's gotta be a logical midpoint between all-volunteer and today's version with highly paid part time workers who get full pension after 20 years.
The town I live in, in South Jersey is still all-volunteer. So are many of the surrounding towns. They open up the fire houses to residents on the 4th of July for free hotdogs and beer. In December, around 30 local departments get together, decorate their engines and ladder trucks in Christmas lights, and drive through all the communities in a massive Christmas light parade.
David